In my opinion, the chart seems to suggest that traditions are significantly more tied to specific essences than they really are. For example, the chart makes it look like Arcane only involves Matter and Mind when in reality it has spells that cover every single essence. I could be reading it wrong but since each tradition only overlaps 2 essences it makes it look like they have nothing to do with the other 2 essences at all.
I agree. It's not like a tradition don't have their "opposite" essence. Ex.: Occult has "life" spell like Soothe (I know, it's an Enchantment but still heals ) and Animate Dead (this is pure Necromancy) that IMO is part of Life essence and Resplendent Mansion that IMO is Matter essence.
But I think that in most part the graphic is correct. Theses traditions have most of their pointed in those essence spell (but also not all).
But I still don't understand what really make a spell to be or not to be in a tradition. I know that healing spells can't appear in Arcane and complex/artificial spells (like Mansions) can't appear in primal. But I still don't have a clear distinction in how the tradition works why most spell can or not can be in a tradition.
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I want to say though Soothe is a healing spell, I don't think it's a vital essence since it doesn't draw on positive or negative energy. It's somewhere at the intersection of mental and spiritual--healing you by soothing your soul/mind/nerves. Which may seem weird but if there's mental damage I can accept mental healing.
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Best not to rag on them for potential missteps of Paizo's. That's how the traditions are explained in the CRB, not FairUnknown's fault if some spells don't quite mesh. ¯\_('v')_/¯
It's a neat diagram!
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Well now this is interesting. They changed the language regaridng the essences so that instead of being explicitly tied to certain traditions, traditions have essences that they are stronger at.
https://2e.aonprd.com/Rules.aspx?ID=259
Matter
Also called body, material essence, or physical essence, matter is the fundamental building block that makes up all physical things in the universe. The arcane and primal traditions are especially attuned toward manipulating and shaping matter. Spells that are used to create or alter matter most often come from the conjuration, evocation, or transmutation schools.
Mind
Also called thought, mental, or astral essence, mind is what allows thinking creatures to have rational thoughts, ideas, plans, logic, and memories. Mind touches even nonsapient creatures like animals, though in a more limited capacity. Arcane and occult casters usually excel at mind spells. Spells that use mind essence are usually found in the divination, enchantment, and illusion schools.
Spirit
Also called soul, ethereal essence, or spiritual essence, spirit is an otherworldly building block that makes up a being's immaterial and immortal self. The spirit travels through the Ethereal Plane and into the Great Beyond after the death of the physical body. The spirit is most easily affected by divine and occult spells. Spirit spells are usually of the divination or necromancy schools.
Life
Also called heart, faith, instinct, or vital essence, life represents the animating universal force within all things. Whereas matter provides the base materials for a body, life keeps it alive and well. This essence is responsible for unconscious responses and belief, such as ancestral instincts and divine guidance. The divine and primal traditions hold power over life. Life spells are usually necromancy.
This is notably different from how the traditions were described in the playtest.
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Neat drawing! Here is the one that I've been using to help me visualize the relationships between the Essences and Traditions. You've got two pairs of "opposing" essences with the four traditions each largely straddling two essences. The structure is very similar to your design.
Of course the traditions aren't absolutely restricted to those essence pairs. There are spells which cross over "opposing" traditions and essences.
I made the essences fade toward white as they merge at the center to represent the Unified Magical Theory espoused by Old Mage Jatembe. Halcyon magic would exist just below that center point. That's where Primal and Arcane (or Life, Matter, and Mind) all begin to merge. Old Mage Jatembe just needed to unify Spirit with the other three essences to complete his vision.
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I agree. It's not like a tradition don't have their "opposite" essence. Ex.: Occult has "life" spell like Soothe (I know, it's an Enchantment but still heals ) and Animate Dead (this is pure Necromancy) that IMO is part of Life essence and Resplendent Mansion that IMO is Matter essence.
But I think that in most part the graphic is correct. Theses traditions have most of their pointed in those essence spell (but also not all).
But I still don't understand what really make a spell to be or not to be in a tradition. I know that healing spells can't appear in Arcane and complex/artificial spells (like Mansions) can't appear in primal. But I still don't have a clear distinction in how the tradition works why most spell can or not can be in a tradition.
It isn't exactly true that healing spells can't be Arcane. There are a couple of ways to cast Heal as an arcane spell, for example.
How do you cast Heal with arcane tradition?
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How do you cast Heal with arcane tradition?
If you become a Halcyon Speaker, you can cast all of your spells as either Arcane or Primal spells, regardless of which tradition/s they actually are.
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How do you cast Heal with arcane tradition?
There is the Halcyon casting that Evan Tarlton mentioned.
For a human arcane caster you could take the Adaptive Adept feat.
For Kobolds you can take the Dracomancer feat line and choose either Gold or Silver dragons as your Exemplars.
Those are just off the top of my head. Not enough to make a healbot out of a Wizard, but they do demonstrate that Arcane healing isn't impossible.
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How do you cast Heal with arcane tradition?
Crossblooded Evolution is probably the easiest excample. And it also shows that any spell can be of any Tradition, though they might need some sort of Catalyst - like the magic-filled blood of a sorcerer.
How do you cast Heal with arcane tradition?
Wish
If you become a Halcyon Speaker, you can cast all of your spells as either Arcane or Primal spells, regardless of which tradition/s they actually are.
It's more like a mix that you can use to access the both tradition at same time. It's not like as the primal spells changes their traditions. A heal spell casted by a Magaambyan caster probably counts has primal for all the effects. There's no mention that the spells change their traditions.
For a human arcane caster you could take the Adaptive Adept feat.
It's more like a little cheat that allow some humans to use any cantrip/lvl1 spell than having heal in the arcane tradition (but yes, macanically it's really becomes as arcane spell). Anyway you cannot heightened the spell so have little use to heal, is more interesting to a cleric/druid to add true strike than heal.
For Kobolds you can take the Dracomancer feat line and choose either Gold or Silver dragons as your Exemplars.
I admit, still looks like a little cheat that changes Divine magics from dragons to Arcane but this really turns the heal into a arcane spell. But IMO it's still strange because these dragons don't cast as an arcane spell but a kobold can cast it as arcane? Anyway you cannot heightened the spell more than lvl 2 so have little use as effective healing.
Crossblooded Evolution is probably the easiest excample. And it also shows that any spell can be of any Tradition, though they might need some sort of Catalyst - like the magic-filled blood of a sorcerer.
This probably the most closer way and effective way to make a strange spell really works as part of a tradition. Still I'm not sure if this spell will be casted as arcane (for an arcane sorcerer) or if still used their original tradition as trace.
Wish
...
But the point i'm talking about is that heal is not naturally part of arcane tradition.
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Well, if you need more convincing, various Deities grant their follower spells that clearly don't belong to the Divine Tradition. Surely you won't argue that Sarenrae's fireball is Arcane or Primal?
Gods is different. They can give anything to their followers since the earlier versions of D20 systems. The explanation always was "they are gods, so they can do whatever they want" 😝
But backing to the question. I still don't know why some traditions naturally (without feats or tricking a device) have some spells and others not. I always wonder what make the Paizo's designer to decide what spell is part of a tradition but not of other. They may have some base to this no?
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I still don't know why some traditions naturally (without feats or tricking a device) have some spells and others not. I always wonder what make the Paizo's designer to decide what spell is part of a tradition but not of other. They may have some base to this no?
A Gygax did it. People liked it, and have copied it ever since.